E-Paper
Panel for referendum in J&K on Article 370
The issue of retaining Article 370, granting special status to the Himalayan state, or doing away with it has been left to the people of J&K by the fifth working group on Jammu and Kashmir, announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2006 and set up by the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad at the end of that year.
It’s a move that is certain to create ripples in Jammu and Kashmir.
The issue of retaining Article 370 — granting special status to the Himalayan state — or doing away with it has been left to the people of J&K by the fifth working group on Jammu and Kashmir, announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2006 and set up by the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad at the end of that year. Article 370 has been fiercely defended by Kashmir-centric parties and vehemently opposed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Working group chairman, retired Justice Sageer Ahmed of the Supreme Court, said, “It is for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to decide how long to continue with Article 370 in its present form and when to make it permanent or abrogate.”
Unlike four other working groups on governance, security, Centre-state relations and economic development, which submitted their reports to the Prime Minister, this report was submitted to state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, in Jammu on Wednesday.
Moreover, despite deliberations for more than two years on Article 370, the report was submitted without a consensus.
Representatives of major parties and groups stuck to their respective positions on the contentious issue.
The group’s members included Arun Jaitley (BJP), Saifuddin Soz and Tara Chand (Congress), and Abdul Rahim Rather (National Conference) Muzaffar Hussain Beig (People’s Democratic Party) and Ajay Chrungoo of Panun Kashmir.
The salient features of Article 370 are that no central law passed by Parliament is applicable automatically to the state unless it is ratified by the J&K assembly and that no citizen of any other state in the country can own any property in the state.
Among other recommendations, the group has called for an examination of the question of autonomy, raised by the National Conference (NC).
The NC’s demand for autonomy amounts to virtual sovereignty for the state, except on affairs relating to defence, communications and foreign affairs, as originally envisaged in the Delhi agreement of 1952.
About the PDP’s demand for self-rule, the report said, “It appears to relate to autonomy in a wider context, which requires to be considered by the Central government.”
